


Painted Nails

by SML8180



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Bonding, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Dice (aka The Critic) is mentioned, Emile is mentioned, Gossip, How Do I Tag, Let Janus Wear a Hoodie, Logan And Patton Are Mentioned, M/M, Nail Polish, Remus is Actually Kinda Chill in This, Talking, Talking about Butts, i guess?, remy is mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:28:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27083395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SML8180/pseuds/SML8180
Summary: Roman has wanted to paint his nails for a while, but he isn't sure he can do it on his own. Luckily, he has someone who knows exactly what he's doing with nail polish just down the hall from him.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Creativity | Roman Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders
Comments: 6
Kudos: 98





	Painted Nails

Roman had been relaxing in his room, scrolling through his Twitter feed when the idea to paint his nails popped into his head. One of the accounts he followed belonged to a makeup artist who would post clips and photos of different looks they pulled together. Their nail art ranged from pleasantly simple to gorgeously complex, and he loved watching the time-lapse videos.

In truth, Roman had wanted to paint his nails for ages. He loved the idea, and he knew the others wouldn’t really care, considering Virgil often had his nails painted purple or black, and Patton would occasionally sport a light blue or pink. He’d actually tried it once, several years ago, and it hadn’t gone well; the result had been sloppy on what he’d managed, before he accidentally knocked the bottle off his desk, spilling the golden polish. After that incident, Roman had gotten too frustrated to continue, and simply dismissed the mess on his floor and fingernails with a snap. He hadn’t tried again since then.

That had been before Virgil was accepted. Now, Roman realized, he had someone who  _ clearly _ knew how to paint nails  _ just down the hall _ . Sure, he and Virgil didn’t always see eye to eye, but surely it couldn’t hurt to just  _ ask _ , right? After all, the worst that could happen was Virgil saying no. If that happened, he supposed he could always see if Patton could help. With a quiet hum to himself, Roman set his phone aside and got up from his bed, stretching a bit before making his way out of his room and just down the hall to stand in front of Virgil’s door.

Roman found himself hesitating to knock on the purple surface. This was  _ stupid _ , he was a prince and an  _ adult _ , he could figure out how to do this himself without making a mess of things! But, the memory of the frustration he’d felt the last time he tried this, and the knowledge that he’d felt the dull ache that sort of frustration brought him for days after, made him hesitant to try again. Biting his lip, Roman sighed through his nose and knocked on Virgil’s door. He heard quiet shuffling coming from inside the room, though when the door opened, he didn’t expect to come face to face with  _ Remus _ , rather than  _ Virgil _ .

“Hey, Emo! Your boyfriend’s here!” Remus called out, only turning his head a bit, keeping his eyes trained on Roman.

“Remus, what?” Virgil’s voice replied. Roman stood up on his tip-toes and looked over Remus’ shoulder, giving a small, awkward wave. He watched as Virgil stood from where he was sitting on the floor, making his way over and pulling at the back of Remus’ shirt, turning the other Side and giving him a playful shove back into the room. “What’s up?”

“Well, I was wondering if, uh… If you would help paint my nails?” Roman asked. The question came out softer and more nervous than he’d intended, and the creative Side could feel his cheeks warming with a faint blush. He was usually the confident one, and it was strange for him to feel nervous like this.

Instead of brushing him off or laughing, Virgil gave one of his signature, somewhat amused smirks. “I was wondering when you were gonna ask.”

“What?”

“You’re  _ the _ type of guy who’d be interested in painting his nails, but I’ve never seen you with any color, so obviously you’re not doing it yourself.”

“I tried once… It didn’t go well…”

“Well, c’mon, we’re just getting started.”

Roman felt Virgil grab his sleeve and pull him into the room, shutting the door behind him. Virgil’s room had an effect on the other Sides the majority of the time, though Roman couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t feel immediately anxious upon entering. He vaguely remembered Virgil saying that his room didn’t have as much of an effect if he willingly let someone in and kept it well lit. With that in mind, Roman noticed that the room wasn’t as dark as it had been when he had been here with Logan, Patton, and Thomas. There were still purple lights strung up, though they were glowing a tad brighter, and there was a warm yellow light coming from a spherical lamp that sat on a small table by Virgil’s desk. It wasn’t painfully bright, but it was enough to force the shadows to the far corners of the space.

On the floor, there was a low-set round table. On the surface of the table sat a jar of cotton balls, a bottle of nail polish remover, and a pair of multi-level nail polish organizers, one of which Remus was spinning around, seemingly looking at the colors. Around the table, there were a few soft cushions. Remus was sitting on a green one, and to Roman’s surprise, Janus was sitting on a yellow one. There was a third purple one between Remus and Janus, and Virgil made his way over, sitting criss-cross on the purple cushion. Roman conjured up a red cushion for himself and sat across from Virgil.

“Roman,” Janus curtly greeted. Roman couldn’t help but notice that the deceitful Side seemed to be almost unsure of what to say to him.

“Janus,” he simply replied, giving a polite nod. Roman certainly knew they weren’t on the best terms, but he wanted to at least try to make amends.

“Is this green new?” Remus piped up, plucking a bottle of shimmery green polish from the organizer in front of him.

“Yeah, I just picked it up a couple days ago,” Virgil confirmed. “You said you wanted to look into something a little flashier, and it caught my eye.”

“Sweet!” Remus smiled. Roman chuckled, watching his brother set the new color aside and go back to looking through the organizer.

“So… Do you guys do this, y’know, on a regular basis?” the prince asked.

“We definitely  _ don’t _ get together every other week to paint our nails and talk about whatever happens to come up,” Janus replied.

Roman nodded a bit, finally taking a proper look at Janus as he spoke. He still had on his bowler hat, slacks, and gloves, though he’d ditched his usual shirt and capelet for a grey long-sleeve and a yellow hoodie with his logo stitched into it.

“Yeah, we do this a lot,” Remus shrugged. “Before you guys accepted our dear little Emo, this was just a Dark Sides thing. We’d talk shit about you guys all the time,” he cackled.

“Once you guys like, gave me a spot at the table, we still did this, just, not as much,” Virgil told Roman. “Now that things’re different, we’re getting back to doing this kind of stuff again.”

“If this is something you three just want to do by yourselves, I can just come back later-,” Roman began, moving to stand.

“Roman, it’s fine,” Virgil assured him. “It’s not some exclusive club or whatever. Patton’s joined us before, and I’ve wanted to invite you for a while. But, y’know, yeah…”

Roman relaxed, smiling a bit. “Alright.”

“Pick a color, Princey,” Virgil chuckled, pushing one of the spinning organizers over to him.

With a shrug, Roman looked through the various colors, spinning the organizer around slowly. There were all sorts of colors to choose from; golden yellows, bright greens, various shades of pink, purple, blue, and orange. A shimmery red caught his eye, and he plucked it from its spot, holding the bottle up to the light to see it shimmer.

“Virgie’s  _ really _ good at nail art,” Remus stated.

“C’mon, I’m not  _ that _ good,” Virgil argued. “Jay taught me, after all.”

“You picked it up quickly,” Janus chuckled. “But you’re better at the really intricate work.”

Virgil rolled his eyes and turned to Roman. “That would pair really well with one of the shimmery golds Jay uses, and the high-gloss top coat. Red base, some gold roses, what d’you think?”

“I think that sounds amazing,” Roman smiled.

Virgil smiled a bit, grabbing one of the bottles of shimmery gold polish from one of the organizers. “Hey Jan, would you mind swapping spots? You and Remus can work on getting your old stuff off, and I can work on Roman?”

“Oh, I  _ do _ mind,” Janus smirked, before getting up. He and Virgil swapped places, and Janus slipped off his gloves, tucking them into the pocket of his hoodie. The deceitful Side’s nails were painted a simple solid yellow, though they were clearly chipping. Roman watched as Remus grabbed the nail polish remover and some cotton balls, taking note of his brother’s chipping green and black polish. His attention was pulled to Virgil when he felt the other Side grab his left hand.

“Looks like you’re due for a clip, too,” Virgil observed. “I can clip and file these down, then we can get to the fun part.”

“Sounds good,” Roman confirmed. His nails  _ were _ getting a bit long, come to think of it. He kept them filed and clean, anyways, so it was just a matter of trimming them down to the proper length. He summoned his own clippers and nail file, and watched as Virgil got to work. Virgil worked on clipping his nails, taking care to keep them even, before moving on to filing them to a smooth edge. He was happy to see that Virgil had kept a bit of length, and rounded each nail perfectly, just as Roman always kept his nails. They were long enough to be elegant, but still short enough to stay out of the way.

“I forgot how hard this black polish is to get off,” Janus griped as Virgil was finishing filing Roman’s last nail.

“I think we decided the best way was to prep the cotton balls, then use tape to hold them on the nail for a bit so it breaks down the polish,” Virgil stated.

“Right, then we used the edge of the metal file to get the bulk of it to peel off, and ran over with a clean cotton to get the last of it,” Janus nodded.

“Some of these are harder to remove than others,” Virgil explained to Roman. “The black, dark blue, and dark green are pretty stubborn.”

“Meaning you’re gonna have cotton fingers next, Virge,” Remus reminded him.

“Well  _ fuck _ ,” Virgil jokingly griped.

“I can get Roman’s clear base on,” Janus offered. “You and Remus can get your stubborn color off.”

Virgil nodded, and Roman watched as he and Janus swapped places again. He felt Janus grab one of his hands to inspect Virgil’s work, and turned to see him nod his approval. Janus grabbed the clear base coat.

“What’s the purpose of the clear base, anyways?” Roman asked. He was genuinely curious.

“For one, it’s your best defence against staining your nails,” Janus told him. “Some of these can and  _ will _ leave color behind when they chip off, because it stains the nail itself. We’ve also found that it helps seal the work and helps it last longer.”

“Makes sense,” Roman shrugged.

“Now hold still, I don’t feel like getting this all over your fingers,” Janus told him, shaking the bottle in his hands before unscrewing the cap.

Roman nodded and held still, letting his hand relax in Janus’ grasp as the other Side worked. He watched as Janus made precise swipes with the brush, leaving behind a shiny coat of clear polish. The deceitful Side seemed very calm as he worked, with a subtle smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

“Did you guys know that Shakespeare’s epitaph contains a curse for grave robbers?” Remus randomly piped up.

“ _ Good friend for Jesus sake forbeare, To dig the dust enclosed here. Blessed be the man that spares these stones, And cursed be he that moves my bones _ ,” Roman recited. He’d gone through a stint where he learned everything he could about Shakespeare, and though he’d forgotten a good chunk of it by this point, that epitaph was something he still remembered.

“Spooky,” Virgil commented.

“I kind of love that,” Janus stated.

“I know, right?” Remus grinned.

The group fell quiet as they went back to work. Janus worked on getting the base coat on Roman’s other hand, while Virgil and Remus removed their old polish. After a while, Remus spoke up again.

“Am I the only one here who thinks Nerdy Wolverine has a cute butt?”

“Oh, he  _ definitely _ has a cute butt,” Janus agreed.

“No doubt,” Roman stated. “Not as cute as Virgil’s, though.”

“Roman, I swear to god,” Virgil sighed.

“What? All I’m saying is you’ve got a nice booty.”

“Stop it-”

“We got a blushy emo!” Remus enthusiastically pointed out.

Roman chuckled as he looked towards Virgil to find that he was certainly blushing. The prince decided it was a cute look for him.

“We live with a  _ lot _ of people with really nice butts,” Janus mused. “Emile is one  _ lucky _ man.”

“Oh my  _ god _ , it is  _ unfair _ how nice Remy’s butt looks in those jeans he just got,” Virgil jokingly complained. “Like,  _ seriously _ , I get that they’re skinny jeans, there’s a  _ reason _ I wear them, but  _ come on _ !”

“You’re gonna ask where he got them next time you get the chance, aren’t you?” Roman questioned with a smirk.

“Already did,” Virgil told him. “Next time I find myself in the Urban sector of the Imagination, I’m gonna pick up a couple sets.”

“I’m going to need the name of that place,” Janus stated. “For reasons.”

“I’ll text it to you,” Virgil chuckled.

The group fell into comfortable conversation after that, talking about whatever came to mind. As Remus, Janus, and Virgil got their base coats done, Roman let his dry completely. They talked about the relationship that was clearly going on between Remy and Emile, and jokingly made bets on how long it would take for Patton to get with the two of them, seeing as his pining was painfully obvious to apparently everyone  _ but _ Emile. Apparently even Remy knew that the fatherly Side was smitten, but considering his love for drama of this sort, he was keeping his mouth shut on the issue. Following that, the topic of Thomas’ inner critic, Dice, came up.

“I mean, if I had to pin  _ anyone _ in Thomas’ head as double-demi, it would  _ have _ to be Dice,” Janus stated.

“Oh, no doubt, he’s got the stickers on his laptop to prove it,” Roman concurred.

“Wait, he does?” Virgil piped up, looking up from putting Roman’s first coat of red polish on, while Remus was applying the first coat of dull yellow to Janus’ nails.

“Yep. I saw them the last time he was getting some work done in the Commons. They looked brand new, so he probably either just got them, or just got around to putting them on.”

“Nice.”

“That reminds me, I have a few new stickers to put on my laptop after this,” Janus mused.

“Ooo, what are they?” Remus enthusiastically asked.

“One says,  _ I Hate Stickers _ , one says,  _ Clothing Has No Gender _ , and one’s a snake curled into a heart shape with its little tongue sticking out.”

“I’ve got a  _ Clothing Has No Gender _ one!” Roman exclaimed. “I think Patton and Emile have similar ones, too.”

“Patton is adorable in a skirt,” Virgil commented.

“Agreed. That yellow one he just got, with the suspenders on it? Too cute,” Roman agreed.

“Let that dry, don’t mess with it,” Virgil ordered Roman, once he finished getting the first coat of red polish on all the creative Side’s nails.

“Of course,” Roman chuckled.

Virgil nodded, and Roman examined his nails as Remus and Virgil got their own base colors on; Virgil applied the first coat of black to Remus’ nails, while Remus applied the first coat of purple to Virgil’s using a pair of slender tentacles to do so, ensuring he didn’t ruin his own nails.

“What pattern are you planning on this time, Virgil?” Janus questioned.

“Purple base, with black spiderwebs,” Virgil replied. “Might put a few gold accents on there, just for fun.”

Janus simply hummed his approval, before moving on. Their comfortable chatter continued as everyone waited for their first color coats to dry, and went on to apply the second coat of each base color. Once those were dry, Janus and Remus worked on one another’s designs, while Virgil began the process of applying the gold roses to Roman’s nails by hand, rather than using a stamp.

“You might have a steadier hand than Logan,” Roman commented. Virgil’s hand was indeed surprisingly steady as he worked, applying the gold polish a little at a time.

“That’s what Patton said last time I did his nails,” Virgil chuckled. “Thanks. It comes with the practice, I guess?”

“You  _ do _ have what, three stampers, Virgil?” Janus mentioned.

“Your point being?”

“You do most of your work by hand, why do you have them?”

“For one, Remus uses them, especially when he’s doing your work. For two, I use them with blended or really tiny patterns, because fuck that.”

“Basically, he keeps them for me and Logan,” Remus summarized.

“Yep.”

“Wait, you’ve painted  _ Logan’s _ nails?” Roman questioned.

“Yep. Galaxy background, with some stars dotted on,” Virgil replied. “I don’t think he kept it for long, though, you know how he is, but Remy, Dice, Remus, and I managed to convince him to join us for a night out in the Imagination, and he wanted to have his nails done.”

“I did not expect that,” Roman commented.

“That nerd can get  _ wild _ if you manage to get him out of his own head,” Remus told his twin.

“It was crazy,” Virgil chuckled.

The conversation between the four Sides flowed smoothly as the afternoon went on. Remus finished Janus’ scaled accent nails, and applied a bit of black to the tips of his other nails, while Janus went on to tape off part of Remus’ nails and applied the shimmery green to one side, which would leave a clean geometric pattern behind once the tape was taken off. Virgil finished the roses on Roman’s nails, and applied a thin stripe of the gold polish to the very tip of each one, before moving on to apply the black spiderweb pattern he wanted to some of his own nails. Once that layer was dry, he added a few dots of gold polish, which looked almost like golden raindrops caught on the strands of the webs. After everyone’s color had completely dried, Remus used his slender tentacles to apply the final clear top coat to everyone’s nails, and they waited for the final product to dry.

“I think this might be some of your best work yet, Virgil,” Janus commented, looking over Roman’s nails.

“You think so?” Virgil asked, looking over Remus’ final result.

“They’re perfect, Stormcloud,” Roman told him with a bright smile.

Virgil faintly blushed in response. “Thanks, Ro. They suit you.”

Roman smiled just a bit brighter at that. He helped clean up the various supplies, before taking off to his room, agreeing to join the others again in a few weeks. He’d had more fun than he’d expected, and he wasn’t going to complain about that one bit. He’d gotten to spend the afternoon with Virgil, have some relaxed conversation with Remus and Janus, and even learned a couple of things. He hadn’t expected all of that from just wanting to sport some painted nails, but he wasn’t going to object to it.

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, I provide bonus content that isn't in the Spy AU!  
> This week's usual upload will be going up as normal, I just wanted to get this out of my system, lol.
> 
> Also, that thing about Shakespeare is legit! I found it interesting, and thought it'd be a cool little thing for Roman and Remus to share.


End file.
